


Nothing Left To Lose

by airsalonpasandpettysquabbles



Series: Miraculous, simply the worst [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Knows, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Needs a Hug, Aged-Up Character(s), Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Evil Gabriel Agreste, F/M, Heavy Angst, Hurt Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Identity Reveal, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Obsessed Gabriel Agreste, Semi-Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:55:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24024673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airsalonpasandpettysquabbles/pseuds/airsalonpasandpettysquabbles
Summary: Gabriel Agreste has three fights with his wife. He thinks he has nothing left to lose.Gabriel Agreste has one fight with his son. He doesn't have anything left to lose.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Emilie Agreste & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Emilie Agreste & Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Emilie Agreste/Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth
Series: Miraculous, simply the worst [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733008
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80





	Nothing Left To Lose

Gabriel Agreste almost never fought with his wife. After all, what was there to fight about? No need to worry about finances when you were a famous fashion designer and your spouse was an equally renowned actress. There were no worries when it came to raising Adrien either: he would be loved, cared for, and cherished. So their **first** real fight came during an unexpected time.

"Emilie, mon amour, please take a break. You're not well."

She had raised an eyebrow. _"Someone_ needs to save Paris. And besides, I'm fine."

"Your miraculous is _killing_ you! I implore you, please, if not for yourself then for me, to take a break from saving the world."

"Gabriel, we've sworn to protect this city!" her tone was louder now, more passionate. "To let them down in their moment of need if _beyond_ selfish. Beyond what we stand for."

"Is it selfish to want to see you _live_?! And might I add that _you_ are selfishly following a _blind_ passion, Emilie! We're _parents_ now, we have more than ourselves to think about!" He had erupted.

They lapsed into silence, emotions high, and anger burning. Gabriel knew he was losing the fight. At least he still had one card to play.

"If not for me, then for Adrien. He still needs his mother, perhaps more than Paris needs its heroes."

Her glare softened at the mention of her son. Bingo.

She sighed, slightly aggravated. "Fine. But don't think for one second that I'm dropping my second persona. And don't think that you're off the hook for calling it blind passion. You signed up for this too, you hypocrite."

He nodded curtly, already calling on his Kwami to transform him.

* * *

Their **second** argument occurred sometime later, weeks maybe months. He was in the study, hunched over a stack of parchments, a pile of volumes, and a bowl of strawberries. He was half-asleep when Emilie entered the room, who was curious to see where her husband was off to.

"Gabriel, just what have you been doing for all this time? I had to reassure Adrien that you were doing alright-" she snuck a look at the mountain of books and scrolls he was reading.

"Wait, Emilie-" he tried stopping her. But it was too late, the second argument was already unfurling.

"Gabriel Agreste! Are you studying Dark Magic?! _Immortal Intricacies_ , _The Myth of the Miraculous_ , _Dark Arts in the Making: A Cruel Angel's Thesis_... Gabriel, how _could_ you?!"

"How could _I_?! Emilie, you're pushing yourself out there, far beyond your capabilities. Far beyond your limits. I'm _sorry_ if I want you to stay alive!"

"How _dare_ you, Gabriel! This goes against all we have stood for! This city has morals and values and so do we! We have principles and they're there to keep us in check. Dabbling with the Dark Arts goes against our very own rule of thumb."

He growled, "What does moral ethicality have to do with anything when you're dying?! This is folly, Emilie! You can't keep on going like this. But you are, so I'm doing what I can-"

"What use am I if I can't fight for the people, Gabriel?! _Our_ people! _Innocent_ people."

"What use are you to Paris if you're _dead_ , Emilie! Be reasonable, for heaven's sake!"

This time, she didn't stop her rising inferno from bubbling over her sense of diplomacy.

"And what use are _you_ to Paris if you've become the _enemy_ , Gabriel?!"

That shut him up. A grim smile stretched at his lips.

"Forgive me, Emilie. I've been horrible both to you and to Paris. My ideals are scrambled. My morals have left me. The tear in your miraculous has come to cause disruption in more ways than one."

"I'm sorry Gabriel. This is all my fault-"

"No, never think that. This isn't, and never will be your fault." There was a pause. A pause where Gabriel put the blame on his shoulders. A pause where he vowed to do whatever it took to save his wife. A pause where Emilie hoped the weak strain in her bones would eventually pass.

"Now let's see what our little devil is up to," resumed Gabriel.

His wife laughed, a harmonious sound that washed all the doubt away from his mind. "He should be practicing his mandarin right about now. Come, let us find him."

And that was that. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they never spoke of the Dark Arts again...

* * *

Their **third** and last quarrel was too one-sided to be considered a real dispute. Emilie was slipping away from consciousness on a medical bed. Gabriel was at her side, tears slipping down his normally unblemished face. He was gripping her hand, which was paling quicker than he would have liked.

"Emilie, ma chérie, please don't go. You can't go."

He was answered with a faint squeeze of the hand. That and the unyielding silence that surrounded them.

Nathalie was in the corner, silently crying. Adrien- poor Adrien was at school, oblivious to the misgivings of the world and the unlucky tidings that the day would bring. He would be heart-broken.

But in the middle of his grief, Gabriel could only think of _her_. She was fading, and why not him instead?

"I love you too much. Adrien loves you too much. We can't let you go, not yet."

He quickly resumed his desperate plea, "Emilie, what about our son?! I can't do this alone! I can't raise Adrien alone. Not without you..."

The rise and fall of her chest stopped so suddenly. So abruptly. The monitor signaled heart failure: the sound of her heart flatlining was dull. And now, so was he.

"I love you, Emilie. I won't let you die. Not now, not ever."

It never did occur to him that there was a balance to this world. That the dead scarcely walked again without scarring repercussions.

And _boy_ didn't the world have a lot in stock for Gabriel Agreste. _Too_ much, in fact.

* * *

Gabriel's **first** _real_ fight with his son hadn't been about friends, parties, or even about a conventional topic for teenagers. At first, Gabriel hadn't even recognized the other party to be his own flesh and blood, but he had become aware when the fight had become personal. And it had become personal, leaving Gabriel in a disrupted, devastated, distraught kind of state.

It was around August when it had happened, and he was getting too old for this. His hair was _definitely_ all gray, his bones were getting weaker by the year, and his son was turning 20 in the fall. How time had flown. He had managed to capture two of Ladybug's allies, and he had already stolen their Miraculous. It was only a matter of time before Ladybug herself would come into play, trapped in his web of lies.

She _had_ come. Having teammates was just a weakness, but, fortunately for him, she didn't see it that way. ~~A voice in his head had whispered to him that _he_ used to be a teammate. And look where that had gotten him.~~

"Let them go, Hawkmoth! It's me you want, just- just let them go!" Ladybug cried. "Please, just let them be."

"Don't worry, you foolish children won't be harmed. Well, not too much, anyway. I now wait for the last player of the game to arrive so we can finally start the show."

Ladybug sneered, "You'll never catch Chat, you _bastard_!"

He chuckled at that, "You underestimate how deadly working with _friends_ can be, Ladybug. You are all martyrs: foolish, impulsive, and blindly passionate." Just like _she_ had been. "He _will_ come."

He had hastily taken her Miraculous. The powerful Ladybug Miraculous. One left.

"Just tell me one thing, asshole, why are you doing this? Why go through _all_ this effort for Miraculous? What are you looking for?!" A voice roared from the shadows. The cat had come to play.

"Ah, Chat Noir, how nice of you to grace us with your presence. As for your question, I guess you all have a right to know what I will do with your Miraculous. I intend to resurrect somebody I love."

The silence rang. It left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth.

Chat Noir walked out of the shadows, tense. "Who do you intend to bring back." His voice was cracking.

"...My wife. She was, _is_ , everything to me. She shouldn't have died."

"No, you're right, she shouldn't have. But _you're_ the fool if you think she is all you have in your life!"

His eyes narrowed under his violet mask. "How would you, of all people, know what my life is like without her?! Emilie was all I had left..."

"How _dare_ you!" _How dare you, Gabriel! This goes against all we have stood for!_ He barely contained a flinch. "What about your son, doesn't he mean anything to you?! What about the ones who hold you close in their hearts?"

"What do you know of my son?! My son is a constant reminder of her. He is perfect in every way, just like she was. He _looks_ like her, for heaven's sake! So I distanced myself from him, but he is still fed, clothed, and-"

"Children need to be loved, you selfish, miserable man! They need to be loved, cared for, and cherished." _There were no worries when it came to raising Adrien either: he would be loved, cared for, and cherished._ It had been their plan, but just how far did he stray from it? "They want to feel wanted. Not abandoned, controlled, and useless. No, they should never feel like that. Never a prisoner in a castle."

Gabriel was confused. Had he been wrong about Adrien's upbringing all this time?

"Plagg, claws in."

The cat costume dematerialized, leaving a melancholic looking Adrien Agreste in its wake. He could see his anger tearing at the seams. It was the same inferno Emilie had had.

Gabriel Agreste was left reeling. No. It couldn't be. "Adrien?" All these years, he had tried killing his own son. _A pause where he vowed to do whatever it took to save his wife._ Whatever it took... did it mean attempting to off his own son? Distancing and abandoning was one thing, but this... Emilie would _never_ have forgiven him for this.

Adrien took his confusion and shock as a sign to go on. "You know, father, when I was younger, when you pushed me out all the time, I used to hate you. I used to wish that you were the one dead, instead of her." _She was fading, and why not him instead?_ "And sometimes I thought that you wished I was dead in her place." He laughed bitterly. It was an acrimonious and vitriolic sound. This time, Gabriel _did_ flinch. This laugh, it wasn't from his mother. It was _his._

"But guess what, _father_ ," he sneered, crouched down, inches away from the man in question. "I don't care anymore. I don't need your acceptance or your good graces."

A rancorous smile stretched at his lips, "I don't need your love anymore."

And suddenly there were people locking him in a bruised grip, trapping handcuffs around his wrists. There were sirens, distant in his mind. They were dull. _The monitor signaled heart failure: the sound of her heart flatlining was dull. And now, so was he._

A realization hit him then, his son's words coming at him at full force. It had come late, _too_ late, but it was there nonetheless: once upon a time, he stood on the Eiffel Tower, overlooking a city he had once come to love, feeling the full arrogance of being unstoppable, declaring that he had nothing left to lose. It was a false claim. He hadn't stopped to consider the son he still had. The /fashion designer/ dream he was living out. The woman who could never replace Emilie, but who had come close.

He hadn't stopped to cherish, care for, and love the people and opportunities he still had in his life, and now he had lost them all.

Now he really had _nothing left_ to lose.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from Tangled the Series. Go check it out! 
> 
> p.s: Can anyone guess where one of the books Gabriel was reading is from?


End file.
